


student discount

by ElementalAegis, hellraisin



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Good Dad Jack, Jack Has Issues, M/M, Making Up, Original Character(s), Single dad jack, Teacher Jack, Teacher-Student Relationship, for a change, it goes bad, jack hates traitors, rhys makes a bet, rhys seduces jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 14:59:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6428923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElementalAegis/pseuds/ElementalAegis, https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellraisin/pseuds/hellraisin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I wanna know about uh… the college’s policy on professor and student interactions,” he murmured. “Outside of class.”<br/>Jack’s mouth curled into a smirk, and he leaned back in his chair a little. “Well,” he said, “that depends on what kinda interaction you’re going for. What’ve you got in mind, Rhysie?”<br/>“You give all of your students nicknames like that?”<br/>“I might do,” he shrugged. “Why? Ya tryna feel special?”<br/>“Maybe."</p>
            </blockquote>





	student discount

Rhys’ computer engineering teacher was hot.

It was literally the first thing he noticed when he started college. The beginning of his first semester, and he was already thinking about being bent over a desk. Good one, Rhys.

The thing was though, Jack could also _teach_. He was engaging, and actually cared about his students – or seemed to at least – and Rhys dug that. Like, really hard.

He felt like he’d made his way into Jack’s good books too, judging by the friendly jabs they took at each other in class sometimes. It wasn’t like Jack didn’t talk to everyone like that, but Rhys almost felt like he caught Jack looking at him a couple of times, and tried to pretend it didn’t make something in the bottom of his gut go all hot.

 “You don’t understand,” he said to Vaughn when they met up for lunch one Wednesday afternoon – it was the only day of the week their schedules actually managed to align at lunchtime, and conveniently, the only day of the week that Rhys had a class with Jack. “He’s crazy super hot. Like not even fair hot.”

“So you keep saying. I mean, he doesn’t have the nickname ‘Handsome Jack’ for no reason, Rhys. This is like the third time today you’ve told me how hot he is.”

“More like the gajillionth,” Yvette pointed out, raising an eyebrow as she sat down beside them, clearly unhappy that she’d had to buy her own lunch for once.

“Well,” Vaughn shrugged as he pushed his glasses further up his nose, “gajillion isn’t _actually_ a number, so-“

“Guys,” Rhys said, patting frantically at Vaughn’s shoulder as he stared off into the distance. “He’s there. That’s him. Getting coffee.”

Sure enough, stood by the coffee machine, was Jack. He was talking to another teacher, and laughing a little as he spoke, running a hand through his perfectly coiffed hair.

Rhys couldn’t stop thinking about how much he wanted to pull at it.

“Stop thinking about it,” Yvette said, looking over at him like she could read his mind. Maybe she could. Rhys started thinking about dicks just to be sure. He wasn’t sure whether to be reassured or scared when her face didn’t seem to change.

“Shut up,” Rhys sighed, and turned his attention back to the sandwich in front of him.

“Oh, man,” Vaughn nodded, still turned around on his chair to stare blatantly at Jack. “Yeah, I can see why you’re gay for that, bro. He actually _is_ handsome.”

Rhys glanced over to the coffee machine again, and Jack actually caught his eye from across the cafeteria. “Okay, so please turn around because you’re being super obvious right now,” he hissed, tugging at Vaughn’s shirt until he turned back around. “And also, I don’t have a type.”

Vaughn rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say,” he shrugged, moving to stand up, grabbing his empty tray. “I’ll see you later. I got a seminar to get to.”

“Laters, bro,” Rhys said, with a sigh as he continued eating his sandwich. Yvette began to talk about an assignment she was working on for her HR major, but Rhys was only half listening.

When he looked back over to the coffee machine, Jack was gone.

 

* * *

 

 

Rhys tugged his backpack over one shoulder idly as he headed towards the classroom for Jack’s lecture. There were a few students loitering around outside while they waited for the previous class to clear out, and that’s when he heard the debate. He was only half listening as he moved to lean against the wall, waiting to go in.

“He’s totally gay,” said a girl Rhys knew as Sara.

“No way,” muttered a guy named Price.

“No, he’s gotta be. The hair? No straight guy puts that much effort into his hair.”

“Maybe not any of the straight guys you’ve dated.  Jack’s got a daughter.” Rhys suddenly found himself listening completely.

“What? Since when?” Sara asked.

“Since he’s had that photo frame on his desk since the dawn of time? Seriously, Sara, did you not notice?”

“She might be a niece or something. Or she could be adopted?”

Rhys sighed loudly, and turned his attention to the two of them. “So, radical notion, here,” he said, speaking up, “but there’s this new-fangled thing called bisexuality. Not that it matters. He’s a teacher.”

Price glanced over at Rhys, looking him up and down, and folded his arms across his chest. “Didn’t know you were invited into this conversation.”

“Well, I’m not,” Rhys shrugged. “Just thought I’d help you both out, cause y’know, you could both technically be right.” Sara narrowed her eyes at Rhys, and then looked to Price, and back to him.

“Put a lot of thought into it, have you?”

“Uh... You two were the ones arguing about it? Not me?” he pointed out, eyebrow raised.

“I still think he’s gay,” Sara said. “I think if you walked in there with your stupid long legs, he’d snatch you right up.”

Rhys shook his head and laughed. “Okay, yeah, no. That wouldn’t happen.”

“That’s… not actually a bad idea,” Price smirked, narrowing his eyes at Rhys again. “Yeah, you should totally do it. It’d answer the question, right? If he bites, he’s into dudes to _some_ degree.”

Rhys shook his head again, holding his hands up. This wasn’t really happening, was it? “You have _got_ to be kidding me right now. Okay, one, this isn’t happening because this is a stupid idea, and two, if he doesn’t bite, it could just mean I’m not his type. It doesn’t mean he’s totally straight.” This was the wildest conversation Rhys had ever found himself in. There was no way he could be convinced to do this. Trying to seduce a teacher just to gauge his sexuality? Couldn’t they just ask him? Jack was chill enough.

“We’ll pay you,” Sara said.

“What?” Rhys said.

“Will we?” Price said, at the same time.

Sara nodded. “Yeah. Or I will, at least. Price, it’s only fair you pull your weight here. We both wanna know, right? And Rhys is the best candidate.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I’m not agreeing to anything here,” Rhys argued, shaking his head.

“A hundred bucks,” Sara said, and Rhys felt his mouth go dry. “Fifty from me, fifty from Price. That’s how curious I am.”

“You guys are crazy.”

Price’s eyes were still narrowed at Sara, but then he nodded. “No, actually, I’m kind of on board with this. I’d pay that much to find out if _the_ Handsome Jack is actually gay or not.”

Rhys thought about it for a moment. He could do a lot with a hundred dollars. Buy a few books for next semester. Take Vaughn for lunch somewhere a little nicer than the cafeteria for once. And all it would take was to try to seduce the guy he’d wanted since they’d started the course? What did he have to lose? Besides dignity, and y’know, _grades_. It was a risk. But hell if Rhys didn’t want to try it.

“Fine,” he said, running a hand over his face, like he couldn’t even believe he was agreeing to it. “I don’t know how you expect me to prove it, though. It’s not like you’ll just take my word for it.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Price muttered, shrugging a shoulder. “You just worry about getting it done.”

And worry he would, Rhys knew.

 

* * *

 

 

“And next time I’ll be teachin’ ya how to hack into bank accounts,” Jack smirked as he moved to put his feet up on his desk, met by a stony silence and a few raised eyebrows. “Nah, I’m kiddin’. Kinda. Go on, get outta here. I’ll see you next week.” The room began to clear out in a hustle as people put their notebooks back into their bags and began to leave, a quiet chatter filling the air.

Rhys stayed back. He was a little nervous, knowing what he was going to try to do, but he needed to put on an air of confidence if this was going to work.  Jack had moved his feet from his desk and instead begun to go through a pile of documents that looked like the assignments from the week before that he had set.

Once the room was clear, Rhys moved up to Jack’s desk and hovered, waiting until he looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “Can I help ya, Rhys?” he asked.

“So... Jack. Sir. Do I call you sir?”

“Only if you wanna make me feel old,” he smirked.

Rhys hummed. “How old are you anyway? Forty? Is that too high?” At Jack’s blank expression, he shook his head. “Anyway. I wanna know about uh… the college’s policy on professor and student interactions,” he murmured. “Outside of class.”

Jack’s mouth curled into a smirk, and he leaned back in his chair a little. “Well,” he said, “that depends on what kinda interaction you’re going for. What’ve you got in mind, Rhysie?”

“You give all of your students nicknames like that?”

“I might do,” he shrugged. “Why? Ya tryna feel special?”

“Maybe.”

“Cute, but I don’t do favouritism, princess,” Jack said, before turning back to his marking. Rhys moved to take a seat in front of Jack’s desk.

“So,” he murmured as he crossed one leg over the other, “you… _don’t_ do favouritism, but you _do_ do pet names?”

“Only for the real cute ones. Now did ya need something? Or are you just distracting me from my marking for shits and giggles?” he asked, leaning back with a sigh, as he could tell he’d get no work done while Rhys was still here.

“The cute ones?”

Jack looked at him then, a smug little smile on his face, and he began to sway from side to side a little in his rotating chair. “Eh,” he said with a shrug, and Rhys wet his lower lip with his tongue. He didn’t miss how Jack’s eyes tracked the movement, and he didn’t miss the way it made something warm curl around in his stomach.

“So about this policy,” Rhys said.

“Right, yeah,” he nodded, running a hand through his hair. “Basically, college students are of age, so relationships, while, y’know, pretty unprofessional, aren’t illegal or anything as long as they don’t interfere with grades. So like, I couldn’t bounce you up a couple points, even if you are getting A’s.”

Rhys raised an eyebrow. “Who said we were talking about me and you?”

Jack only laughed at that, and licked his own lips as he leaned back in the chair. “Alright, I’ll bite,” he nodded, swinging again. “Why ya asking about the policy?”

“I thought you and I should make this – our interactions – into something more… personal.”

“How personal we talkin’?”

“As personal as you wanna get, Jack.”

“Hey,” Jack said, holding up his hands, “I’m just askin’ for clarification here, cupcake. You tryna bang your professor? Or are you tryna take me out somewhere?”

Rhys felt that heat in his gut coiling again. “Both, if I’m lucky,” he shrugged, trying to make this seem as casual as possible.

“I’m a busy man, baby,” Jack pointed out, and Rhys caught on to the fact that that wasn’t a no. “So how about you only pick one?”

Rhys swallowed. “I want you to fuck me.”

The grin that crept onto Jack’s face was smug, and dazzling. “Ohoho, there we go, huh? How often’ve you been thinking about this, Rhysie?”

“Often enough.”

“That why your grades so good, huh? Tryna impress ol’ Jack? Or are you genuinely that smart?”

“Well,” Rhys shrugged, “I’m getting A’s in my other modules too, so unless I’m trying to seduce _all_ of my professors…”

Jack rolled his eyes. “I don’t go to the cross-module meetings,” he said with a shrug of his shoulder. His eyes fell on Rhys for a moment, and looked him up and down. His gaze lingered on his neck, and then down to where one knee was crossed over the other. “Alright,” he nodded.

Rhys furrowed his brow. “Alright…?”

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

Now that was a surprise. “Well. I... wasn’t expecting it to be that easy,” Rhys admitted, before a smirk curled onto his own face. “Knew there was something to all those nicknames.”

“What can I say,” Jack smirked. “I’m a sucker for a pretty face. And a great ass.”

“Yeah? You think so? What else?”

Jack barked out a laugh. “Jeez, what is this? Fishing for compliments?” He shook his head a little, and folded his arms across his chest. “What about you, though, huh? Can’t get people your own age?”

“Oh, I can. And I have. They just… aren’t what I want,” Rhys said, making a point of looking Jack up and down for once.

“So you wanna try your teacher instead?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I mean… you’ve seen the other people in this class, right?”

“Oh, I _see_!” Jack grinned. “So it’s not that I’m devastatingly handsome, it’s that I’m the best out of what’s on offer?”

He felt his face go hot. “No, I-“ Rhys huffed, shaking his head. “Okay, that came out wrong.”

Jack laughed again, seeming to like the way that Rhys was squirming. He stood slowly from his chair, and slowly moved around to Rhys’ side of his desk, leaning backwards against the surface. “Something tells me you haven’t seduced anyone before, kitten.”

Rhys tried not to look too pointedly at Jack’s crotch, as hard as it was now that he was more or less facing the damn thing, but as he looked up at Jack from his position in the chair, he realised how good he looked from this lower angle.

He wanted to get on his knees.

Jack chuckled, as if he could read Rhys’ mind, and moved a hand to underneath Rhys’ jaw, letting his thumb rest against Rhys’ chin. “How about you let ol’ Jack take over this seduction, huh?” he murmured, voice low.

Rhys let out a breath, a little shakier than he would have liked. This was like some of his fantasies coming true, but he wanted to make Jack squirm just a little. He dipped his head down a little to take Jack’s thumb into his mouth, and sucked at it just a little, before pulling back with a wet pop.

“Oh, yeah,” Jack grinned. “I’m gonna have fun with you.”

 

* * *

 

 

They didn’t stop at one.

The following week, Jack wouldn’t stop looking at Rhys throughout the lecture, and Rhys took every opportunity to exploit it. At one point, he even sucked on his pen a little, and smirked at the way Jack managed to lose his train of thought.

Price, who had clearly noticed, leaned over then, whispering a quick, “Shit, you actually did it,” and sliding fifty bucks onto Rhys’ table.

As the class started to pack up their things, Jack looked out over the crowd. “Good job today, everyone. Marks were all great, I’m real proud, yadda yadda. Go on, get the hell outta my classroom. Rhys, can you stay a minute?” he hummed, before turning back to his desk.

Any other time, Rhys’ anxieties would have sent him into overdrive, and he’d be panicking about what he could have possibly done that would have warranted an after-class discussion. But he knew what this was about, and he couldn’t stop the grin that crept onto his face even if he wanted to.

“Wow,” Sara said, as she passed him, pulling her bag over her shoulder. “You did it then, huh? Here.” She handed him fifty dollars, which he stuffed into his pocket while Jack’s back was turned.

Once the room was clear, he moved towards Jack’s desk, watching the line of his back and shoulders as he cleared the lesson’s writings off the whiteboard behind him. “You wanted to talk to me, sir?”

“Not so much,” Jack said, setting down the whiteboard eraser. He looked out towards the door, making sure no one was hovering by the glass strip that let them see inside, before he stalked over to Rhys in one smooth movement, hands moving to his hips.

“No?” Rhys asked.

“Yeah, no. No talking,” he murmured, before he was leaning in to kiss him.

 

* * *

 

 

It happened another two times before things went to shit.

Rhys knew they would.

He just didn’t know quite how badly.

One Wednesday, four weeks after the whole thing had started, Jack’s lecture was cold, brash, and nobody really learned anything. He was snappy, and sarcastic, and wouldn’t answer any questions. When the class ended, he sent everyone out with a huff, and Rhys figured he’d better go too. Jack didn’t look in the mood for their usual arrangement, and he certainly didn’t look in the mood to talk about it.

As he got towards the door, Jack spoke up. “Nuh uh, not you, Rhysie. You can wait.”

Rhys took a step away from the door to let the remaining students leave. He supposed it was too much to hope that this would just lead to a really nice session of angry sex?

He felt a little sheepish, but didn’t have any idea what might have pissed Jack off. He hovered in front of his desk, waiting for Jack to speak, but he didn’t.

He acted like Rhys wasn’t there at all.

“.. Sir?” Rhys asked, finally, when it felt like there was a lump in his throat.

“Oh, yeah, right. You,” Jack nodded, setting down the work he’d started to look through, and moving to run a hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair. “Heard your little buddy Price talkin’ the other day. Y’know, princess, I never had ya pegged as a gambling man.”

Rhys felt his blood run cold.

“Shit,” was all his mouth could manage to say.

“Yeah,” Jack said. “ _Shit._ ”

“I.. I swear,” Rhys started. “I swear, I’m not using you.”

“Really? Cause that’s what it looks like, kiddo,” he spat, arms folded across his chest. “So what were the stakes, huh?  Was it twenty bucks to get me to fuck you the first time? Maybe an extra ten for every time after that? Is that why ya kept coming back?”

“No! No, no, I swear, it wasn’t like that! It _isn’t_ like that.” Jack scoffed, shaking his head, and Rhys realised he was losing. “Look, I’ll be honest, the first time, yeah. It was a bet,” he admitted, watching as Jack looked away. “If I could seduce you, I got paid for it, but all the times after that? That was my choice. I wanted to.”

“This is fucking incredible.”

“Jack, I swear,” Rhys said, pulling at the strap of his backpack. “I swear, I didn’t keep coming back for the money.”

Jack barked out a harsh laugh. It was cruel, and cold, and it made something in Rhys’ chest clench. “But you did the first time, right? Bet you didn’t give a flying _fuck_ about me until someone flashed the cash at you, right? You wouldn’t’ve tried shit with me if there wasn’t an incentive.”

“I thought I might fail the class. So I tried to-“

“Bullshit!” Jack shouted, slamming a hand down on his desk. “You’re getting straight fucking A’s. You’ve never missed an assignment. There’s no way you’d have failed. Don’t give me that crap.”

Rhys swallowed thickly. “I thought you might flunk me if I failed at seducing you.”

“What, you think you’re the first student to throw themselves at me? That’s rich, princess. I know they call me Handsome Jack. I know everyone’s really into me. But that doesn’t mean I flunk everyone who tries and fails.” Rhys tried not to think too hard about the fact that there _have_ been failures. The fact that _he_ managed to succeed. “If anything, I’m more likely to flunk you now,” Jack continued. “Now that you’re an asshole who screws his teachers for money. Except, y’know, I’m not gonna do that, because it’s against a billion policies.”

“Look, I-“

“No, y’know what?” Jack interrupted. “You should’ve just done it _not_ for the money. If you like me so much. You should’ve just friggin’ done it. Hell, drop enough hints, and _I_ would’ve seduced _you,_ for Christ’s sakes.”

Rhys suddenly had very mixed feelings. There was a bloom of warmth in his chest that Jack might’ve actually liked him, but it was stamped out by a cold rush of realisation at just how much he’d screwed this up. “Are you serious?” he asked weakly.

“Yeah,” Jack said. “You were hot.”

Past tense. Past tense was very bad.

Rhys sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. Really sorry. And I know that changes nothing about what I’ve done, but I’m gonna keep saying it until-“

“Please don’t keep saying it, kiddo, it’s a waste of everyone’s time.”

“No, I’m serious. I’m gonna fix this. I’m gonna make it right.”

“How?” Jack laughed, cold again, shaking his head as he began to pace around behind his desk. “How the hell are you gonna fix this, huh? I can’t _unfuck_ you. You can’t unspend the money they gave you,” he said, before he turned to Rhys. “What did you spend it on, hm? Was it fucking worth it?”

Rhys opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again, shaking his head.

Jack let out a frustrated sound and tugged at his hair. “In what fucking world would doing this _ever_ be a good idea? You say you liked me without the money? Then why didn’t you just fucking do it, huh? Didn’t have the balls? Too shy to try it on with me? But you’ll suddenly grow a pair if there’s cash involved, right? How much did they pay you?” he asked, bracing himself against the desk, looking over at Rhys.

“I.. It wasn’t.. I don’t-“

“I want a number,” he spat. “I wanna know exactly how much you sold yourself out for. How much it costs to make you give up your dignity.” Jack laughed again, bitterly, and then said, “Y’know, I can’t figure out which of us is the prostitute here.”

Rhys closed his eyes. “Jack-“

“No, no, cause I mean, _I’m_ the one getting used, but _you’re_ the one getting paid. Incredible.”

“Look, I liked you, okay? I wanted to do it because I liked you. The cash was just a bonus, but really, it was about _you_.”

“Of course you did.”

“I’m serious,” Rhys said, leaning forward on the desk, meeting Jack’s eyes. He wasn’t afraid of him. Wasn’t afraid of this. He had to salvage this, in any way he could. “I liked you. _Like_ you. You’re a good teacher, and you’re crazy hot, and it just sort of escalated from there.”

 Jack narrowed his eyes. “Escalated? … Oh. Ohoho, baby. That is _rich_ ,” he laughed, and Rhys felt his face get hot. “Are you telling me you got a lil crush on me, Rhysie? Cause lemme tell ya, you can’t buy my love.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Or, y’know. Get someone else to pay you for it.”

“I’m not.”

“How do I know, huh?” Jack asked, pacing again. “Because your word’s proven to be _so_ reliable.”

“I’ve broken a trust that I can’t just get back, I get that. And I-“

“You stabbed me in the fucking back,” Jack spat, turning to face Rhys again, eyes wild. “You’re a fucking asshole, and if it were up to me, I’d never wanna see your lying face again. But I’m a teacher, and a fucking good one at that. So get out of my sight and I’ll see you next week,” he said, smoothing a hand through his hair, and turning around to clear the whiteboard.

“Jack,” Rhys said, weakly. “Please.”

“I don’t like traitors. Out.”

The word stung, like it burned, and Rhys swallowed the tattered remains of his pride, and left.

 

* * *

 

 

It didn’t get any better.

Jack, if anything, got worse.

Rhys’ grade stayed consistent, which was the one thing he could be thankful for. Jack said he wouldn’t flunk him, and he didn’t.

But Jack himself?

He’d started wearing glasses. Rhys didn’t even know he needed glasses, but he quickly figured that he’d previously been using contacts, and now didn’t care enough to put them in.

The glasses were the first warning sign.

The following week, he had a beard. Unkempt and uncared for.

The third time Rhys saw him, Jack came into class in sweatpants. Actual sweatpants.

His classes weren’t fun anymore. He didn’t make jokes, or jibes, and he certainly didn’t have any passion for any of the things he was talking about.

Rhys felt sorry for him. But more than anything else, he just felt guilty.

 

* * *

 

 

“I don’t know what to do, bro,” Rhys sighed. He’d barely even touched the slice of pizza in front of him. “I’ve screwed up, and now Jack looks like a mountain man.”

“Yeah, no one’s calling him Handsome anymore,” Vaughn pointed out.

Rhys only sighed louder.

“I dunno what you can do here,” Yvette said through a mouthful of her own pizza, shrugging a shoulder. “The guy’s like… heartbroken. It’s like he, I dunno. Liked you.”

Rhys didn’t think it was possible to sigh louder still, but he did.

“I’m going to hell, aren’t I?” he whined, burying his face in his hands.

“Maybe you should talk to him,” Vaughn said. “That’s really all you can do.”

“And if that fails, just change your name and move to a different country, I guess,” Yvette muttered, and Rhys sighed again.

 

* * *

 

 

“Okay. Do your reading for next week. Class dismissed,” Jack said, running a hand through his hair as he sent the students out, and immediately turned to a large stack of marking he had to get through.

Rhys moved to hover in front of his desk.

“So,” he murmured, a smile on his face. “Is the beard a personal choice or are you doing like a ‘not shaving to promote awareness for a thing’ thing?”

Jack didn’t even look up from his papers. “Just didn’t shave.”

“Personal choice, then.”

“Yep.”

Rhys nodded. “Well, it actually… kinda suits you. More than I thought it would.”

“Thanks.”

He sighed softly. “Are these one word answers a personal choice too, or…?”

Jack moved a hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose, eyes closing. “Look, kid, did you need something? Need some advice for the next assignment? Or are you just here to ask me pointless friggin’ questions?”

“Well, I was.. just checking in. Wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine.”

Rhys moved to sit down in front of his desk then, and Jack let out a sigh when he realised that that meant Rhys would be staying. “No, you’re really not. I can see you’re not. Pretty sure everyone can.”

He looked up at Rhys then. “Oh, been having nice little class discussions about it, have you?”

“That’s not-…” Rhys looked away for a moment, and ran a hand through his hair.

“All that matters is that I can teach. Which is what I’m here doing. So quit worrying.”

“Jesus, Jack, you look like you’ve been living in solitude in the mountains. You look like you haven’t slept in about ten years. And I’m pretty sure you’re losing weight.”

“I’m not, shut up.”

“Yeah, you are.”

Jack looked at him for a long moment then, like he was trying to gauge what Rhys was after, why he was here. Rhys hated the way that made him feel. Like Jack suspected an ulterior motive just because someone showed the slightest bit of concern. Who must have hurt him, besides Rhys himself, to make him so closed off?

“Look, okay,” Jack said, “maybe I’m not okay. But it’s really not your business.”

“It kind of is, seeing as it’s my fault.”

The older man shook his head then, a bitter smile on his face. “Oh, there it is. So you’re just here to put up the banners for the pity party, right?”

“No, I just know I did this to y-“

“Oh my god. You actually think this is cause of you? You think I’d get into this state, because of a student? You must think real highly of yourself, huh?” Jack asked. His words sounded like they _should_ have fire behind them, like he should be angry, but he just sounded… kind of empty.

Rhys didn’t like it.

“Okay. I get it.”

“No,” Jack said, that bitter smile returning. “I don’t think you do ‘ _get it_ ’. You come here, acting like you’re concerned about me or whatever, when you’re actually just trying to clear your conscience, right?” he asked, voice suddenly growing a little more angry. “God forbid you actually have to _live_ with the shit you’ve done, right? You gotta do some huge redemption thing but disguise it as _actually_ caring.”

He let out another bitter laugh, and Rhys felt his chest clench.

“God, y’know, I think that’s actually _worse_ than what you friggin’ did in the first place. And to think I thought you couldn’t sink any lower.”

Rhys swallowed thickly. He wasn’t going to cry or anything stupid like that, but seeing Jack like this, and seeing the pure, unbridled hatred that he seemed to have for him? It was enough to make him duck his head a little, brow furrowing.

“I didn’t realise you felt that way,” he muttered.

“Oh, you’re not gonna _cry,_ are you?” Jack asked. “That’s beneath you. But I mean, we could always get someone to pay you for it, and then it doesn’t matter, right? Doesn’t matter how despicable it is as long as you’re getting paid!”

Rhys felt his breathing get a little heavier, and then Jack looked up at him, eyes wide.

“Oh my god,” he breathed out. “Oh my god, please tell me they didn’t fucking pay you to come in here and check up on me,” he said, slowly rising from his chair. “Was that not even your idea either? You need someone to fund every little idea that goes through that little head of yours, huh?”

Rhys didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to interrupt Jack now that he was getting his anger out. He thought with the way he’d given up on his appearance that he might have actually given up on this whole thing altogether, but there was still clearly a quiet anger bubbling under the surface. Rhys thought allowing himself to be shouted at was the least he could do. He deserved it, he supposed, if it offered Jack some kind of catharsis.

“Do you know what the worst fucking part about this is?” Jack asked, beginning to pace around like he so often did when he got frustrated. “Yeah, this is all your fault.” Rhys’s muscles contracted, and his hands went cold and clammy. “I’ve stopped shaving, and sleeping, and eating, and I only remember to even _shower_ half of the fucking time, and it’s all because of you, and this stupid fucking bet, and I _hate_ it.”

Rhys watched as Jack dragged a hand through his hair, tugging at it a little in frustration.

“I _HATE_ it. Because I’m meant to be a fucking adult, and I’m meant to handle this shit better. I’m not meant to get so dependent on a _student_ that my entire life fucking falls apart when it goes to shit. I’m not supposed to be so attached to a stupid little kid who makes bets so that he can play with the big boys out of some fucking desperation to be liked,” Jack spat.

That one hit hard. Rhys looked at him then, a little lost, eyes wide.

But the bit that got him was the fact that Jack could see it too. Jack’s eyes went wide at what he’d said, as he saw Rhys standing there dumbly, and he swallowed.

“I’m sorry,” Jack said, and boy if that didn’t somehow hurt more than any of the things he’d actually said. Handsome Jack infamously did _not_ apologise.

“Wow,” Rhys uttered out.

“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any of that.”

“No, I mean.. I was.. wowing at the fact that you apologised.”

“Oh,” Jack said. “Well. It needed saying.”

Rhys shook his head. “Not really. I deserved it.”

“No, you didn’t,” Jack said, sternly. When Rhys looked over to him, he ran a hand through his hair and moved back towards the desk. “Look, I- … What you did to me, Rhys, was really fucking shitty. But you apologised. A lot. And all I’m doing now is holding it against ya, and it’s not doing either of us any favours.”

Rhys nodded, and the silence sort of settled between them. It wasn’t comfortable.

After a moment, Jack moved around the desk towards Rhys. “I like you, Rhysie,” he admitted, and Rhys felt something flutter in his stomach at the pet name. It’d been so long since he’d heard it. “It’s gonna take me a while to get my head around this stuff, but I do still like you.”

Rhys wrung his hands together in his lap a little. “I like you too.”

“Good,” Jack said. He reached out a hand towards Rhys, as if he was going to run a hand through his hair, a fond gesture, but then he stopped himself. “Go on, will ya? I’ll see you next week, and we’ll… We’ll see.”

Rhys smiled at him, and nodded, grabbing his bag as he stood from his chair. “I’ll see you later,” he murmured, heading towards the door.

Things weren’t back to normal, but it was a start.

That was all he could ask for right now.

 

* * *

 

 

A week later, and Jack was late to his own class.

The students were all talking fairly loudly, before the door finally opened, and Jack walked in. “Sorry I’m late, kiddos. Kid trouble. Y’know how it is. Well, you probably don’t, but… Whatever. Chapter six in your books, thanks,” he huffed, taking off his jacket and hanging it on the back of his chair.

Rhys grinned. Jack’s glasses were off. His beard, gone. He even looked well rested.

They managed to get through about half of the session before there was a loud knock at Jack’s door, but no one could be seen through the glass. “Fuckin’ pranksters,” Jack mumbled, and went back to his teaching, before the sound echoed through the room again. With a sigh, he set down his whiteboard marker and moved over to the door, opening it quickly.

And then a small black haired toddler ran into the room with a grin. “Daddy!” she said, making grabby hands up at Jack.

“Ang-… One second guys,” he murmured, turning his back to the class as he squatted down to the toddler’s level. A lot of the class started laughing, talking amongst themselves, but Rhys listened intently. “Baby, I thought you were staying with Tim in the staff room?”

“Didn’t wanna,” she whined, and stumbled towards Jack until she was falling almost into his lap.

“Daddy’s teaching right now, Angel. You can’t stay.”

“No!”

Rhys laughed softly, and tried to ignore the way his heart was clenching a little at seeing Jack with his daughter.

Jack sighed. “Five minutes, okay?” he hummed, before he hoisted the little girl up and moved to stand behind his desk again, supporting her with one arm as he addressed the class again. “Okay, so none of you are allowed to laugh, but this is my baby girl, Angel,” Jack said, looking over at his students, before turning back to Angel, tilting his head to look at her. “You gonna say hello?”

Angel shook her head a little and buried her face in Jack’s neck.

Rhys almost died from the cuteness.

“Come on, baby. Don’t be shy,” he murmured, coaxing her out. “Just wave at everybody.”

Slowly, Angel moved out of Jack’s neck and looked gingerly around the room, before moving a hand out to awkwardly wave – which was almost more of a grabby hand in the general direction of the class. Several students did it back, and Jack only grinned.

Angel fell quiet, and Jack began to continue teaching as if he didn’t have a toddler in his arms. Rhys swallowed at how sweet and natural it was, Jack just being a doting father. She was surprisingly well behaved for a toddler, Rhys noted. She merely allowed Jack to keep talking, not interrupting or trying to touch him as he spoke. Eventually, Jack set her down on his chair when he needed to write on the whiteboard.

“Tell me if she moves, okay?” he smirked, and then turned his back to the class to begin writing on the board. Naturally, as soon as he turned around, Angel slowly slid off the chair, and began walking towards the class, looking at the students and walking between the desks.

She came close to Rhys’ desk, and Jack turned around.

“You guys never do anything I tell you, huh?” he said, but there was no heat behind his words, and he folded his arms to watch.

Eventually, Angel spoke again, as she looked at Rhys. “You have a metal arm!” she said, and Rhys smiled down at her.

“I… yeah. Do you wanna see?” he asked, and when she nodded, he rolled his sleeve up for her, lowering his arm so she could see, wiggling his fingers a little.

She giggled.

“Daddy talks about you,” she said, and whispers between the students started up again.

“Alright, Angel, that’s enough,” Jack murmured, striding towards Rhys’ desk.

“You do, daddy! You always talk about the one with the metal arm.”

“Angel.”

Rhys grinned, and then looked over to Jack, who just rolled his eyes. Rhys turned back to Angel with a smirk and whispered, “What does he say?”

Jack practically ran over to Rhys’ desk, and clamped a hand over Angel’s mouth. The class only laughed as he hoisted her up into his arms and she let out a joyful squeal. “Ohoho-okay, cupcake, that’s enough fr-.. Don’t lick daddy’s hand, Angel,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her as he moved back towards the front of the room. “Right, you guys talk amongst yourselves, I’m gonna take this one back to the staff room. Say buh-bye, Angel.”

“Bye!” Angel grinned, waving again. The rest of the class waved back, and then Jack took her out of the room with a sigh.

When he came back, Jack resumed teaching like it was nothing.

Rhys couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the session.

Jack, when he caught his eye, grinned back.

 

* * *

 

 

At the end of the session, Rhys moved to the front of Jack’s desk, waiting for the students to clear out, and grinned at him.

“Don’t look so smug, princess,” Jack hummed, raising an eyebrow at him. “She’s a kid. Doesn’t know what she’s saying.”

“Uh huh,” Rhys said, folding his arms over his chest. Jack rolled his eyes, and moved around to stand beside Rhys. “I’m just wondering what you might’ve told her. Cause I mean, you’ve obviously talked about me enough for her to recognise me just from my arm,” he continued, the grin still on his lips.

“Well, I mean,” Jack murmured, edging closer to Rhys. “Mighta told her that there’s this really cute kid in my class, and he’s got a really cool metal arm, and I kinda wanna kiss the stupid grin off his face.”

“You tell her that, do you?”

“Uh huh,” he said, wetting his lower lip as his hands found Rhys’ hips.

Rhys moved his hands to around Jack’s neck. “And are you gonna do it?”

“I think I just might,” Jack murmured, before he leaned in to catch Rhys’ lips, arms pulling him closer. Rhys hummed against him as he kissed back, hands tangling into the soft hair at the back of Jack’s head, before he parted softly with a sigh, pressing his forehead to Jack’s.

“Shouldn’t you be getting to the staff room? To pick up Angel?”

Jack nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I will,” he murmured, pressing another kiss to Rhys’ lips before he pulled away to stuff his papers into his bag, tugging on his jacket as he moved to leave the room.

“You coming?” he asked, pausing by the door.

“You want me to?”

“Well,” Jack laughed, “she’s been dying to meet you.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. This was originally an RP with my darling friend Axton, that took about eight years to write because we suck.  
> 2\. Hit me up on tumblr [here](http://peachkeeping.tumblr.com/), or twitter [here](https://twitter.com/Dev_Riot).  
> 3\. You can find Axton on tumblr [here](http://eridiumpoisoned.tumblr.com), or twitter [here](http://twitter.com/notalltemplars).


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